Erika Vasquez, Contributing Writer  

Virginia lawmakers rejected Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s proposed amendments on legislation to create a retail cannabis market during the General Assembly’s reconvened session on April 22.

This follows lawmakers expressing disappointment towards the governor’s recommendations on retail cannabis markets in Virginia.

Since the legalization of cannabis possession in 2021, adults above the age of 21 have been able to possess an ounce of cannabis and to own up to four plants. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin  twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to purchase regulated cannabis legally during his tenure.

With six years of legal possession but nowhere to legally purchase recreational cannabis, many Virginians have been left anticipating the results of the ongoing legislative dispute.

“I have been waiting for this because it’s so many people, you know — college students sometimes partake in recreational weed use to get off the edge a bit,” third-year English student Owen Collins said. “I think a lot of us are watching very closely as to what will be the outcome of this for sure.”

Introduced by Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, the bill originally establishes the framework for the creation of a retail cannabis market in Virginia and sets January 2027 as the launch date for legalized cannabis purchases.

In a joint statement regarding the bill’s revisions, Aird and Del. Paul Krizek, D-Alexandria, the bill’s primary sponsors, expressed their opposition to the governor’s recommendations.

“By making the legal market harder to access, this proposal allows the illicit market to continue to thrive in every corner store in our Commonwealth,” Aird said in the statement. “That undermines the core goals of legalization and increases the likelihood of untested products, inconsistent potency and lacks consumer protections.”

Despite the early launch date, Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of the Richmond-based nonprofit Marijuna Justice, stated that small businesses in Virginia would be at a disadvantage.

Spanberger’s proposed changes to the bill suggested Virginia cannabis stores open in July 2027, delaying the start date for sales by six months since its original date. She also suggested reducing the amount of sell licenses the state gives out before 2029.

Another proposed change makes smoking marijuana in public a criminal misdemeanor, which would result in jail time. As of now, adults who smoke out in public with less than an ounce on them face a $25 penalty charge. 

Higgs Wise said the General Assembly rejection of the governor’s proposals is a “testament to the work of equity, racial and criminal justice organizers.” She added that marijuana prohibition has disproportionately impacted Black and low-income Virginians in every locality across the commonwealth, further calling out the governor’s substitute for failure of acknowledgment.

“Not only would the governor’s substitute be worse for Black, Brown and low-income communities than the status quo, her language ignored the reform, repair and redress required to acknowledge the decades of racist enforcement,” Higgs Wise said.

The average arrest rate for Black Virginians for marijuana possession is 3.5 times higher than their white counterparts, while also being 3.9 times more likely to be convicted, according to a study done between 2010 and 2019 by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

When questioned about the current bill’s effect on small businesses, Higgs-Wise stated that businesses would be able to grow and sell from the ‘seed-to-sale’ model at a small scale. This is a new provision that allows them to become more profitable as a business.

The governor has less than 30 days to either sign the legislation into law, veto it or not act on the legislation. If vetoed, Virginia will have to wait roughly until 2027’s legislative session to hear the final green light on the debate over recreational dispensaries.